The charts below are direct quotes from Post-Vatican
II Magisterial Documents concerning the theme, Mary and the Church. These
teachings of the Catholic Church may prove useful to include in talks, in
homilies or for research. For the full title and document data, click on the
abbreviation code (for example, BYM leads you to the document, Behold Your
Mother). This will also lead you to the complete document on this website
or assist you in locating it elsewhere.

intimately united to the
Church [by reason of the gift and role of her divine
motherhood...and with her unique graces and functions] 63

devoutly meditating on
her [Mary] and contemplating her in the light of the Word made
man, the Church reverently penetrates more deeply into the great
mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more and more like her
spouse 65

was [accorded a special
"role...in the mystery of the Incarnate Word] and the mystery of
the Mystical Body," [LG 54] that is, "in the economy of
salvation." [LG 55] 5

"Meditating devoutly on
her and contemplating her in the light of the Word made Man, the
Church reverently penetrates more deeply into the supreme mystery
of the Incarnation and becomes more closely patterned after its
spouse." [LG 65] 15

ours is a "Marian age"
34

The Church benefits from
the maternal presence of God's Mother, because she is tied by an
enduring and indissoluble bond to the mystery of the Mystical
Body. 34

[liturgy, new themes]
Mary and the Church, which has been inserted into the texts of
the Missal in a variety of aspects ... that matches the many and
varied relations that exist between the Mother of Christ and the
Church. [several examples given, see new themes] 11

And since the liturgy is
worship that requires a way of living consistent with it, it asks
that devotion to the Blessed Virgin should become a concrete and
deeply-felt love for the Church.... 11

Article 28
[understanding the nature of Church as defined by Vatican II]

The faithful will be able
to appreciate more easily Mary's mission in the mystery of the
Church and her preeminent place in the communion of saints....
Family of God, the People of God, the Kingdom of God and the
Mystical Body of Christ. (LG 6-11) 28

Thus love for the Church
will become love for Mary, and vice versa, since the one cannot
exist without the other, as St. Chromatius of Aquileia observed
with keen discernment: "The Church was united... in the Upper
Room with Mary the Mother of Jesus and with His brethren. The
Church therefore cannot be referred to as such unless it includes
Mary the Mother of our Lord, together with His brethren."
28

[Vat II] by presenting
Mary in the mystery of Christ, also finds the path to a deeper
understanding of the mystery of the Church. Mary, as the Mother
of Christ, is in a particular way united with the Church, "which
the Lord established as his own body. (LG 52) 5

The reality of the
Incarnation finds a sort of extension in the mystery of the
Church - the Body of Christ. And one cannot think of the reality
of the Incarnation without referring to Mary, the Mother of the
Incarnate Word. 5

I wish to consider
primarily that "pilgrimage of faith" in which "the Blessed Virgin
advanced," faithfully preserving her union with Christ. (LG 52)
In this way the "twofold bond" which unites the Mother of God
with Christ and with the Church takes on historical significance.
5

Nor is it just a question
of the Virgin Mother's life-story, of her personal journey of
faith and "the better part" which is hers in the mystery of
salvation; it is also a question of the history of the whole
People of God, of all those who take part in the same "pilgrimage
of faith." 5

When the Church "enters
more intimately into the supreme mystery of the Incarnation,"
- she thinks of the Mother of Christ with profound reverence and
devotion. (LG 65) Mary belongs indissolubly to the mystery of
Christ, and she belongs also to the mystery of the Church from
the beginning, from the day of the Church's birth. 27

It is precisely Mary's
faith which marks the beginning of the new and eternal Covenant
of God with man in Jesus Christ; this heroic faith of hers
"precedes" the apostolic witness of the Church, and ever remains
in the Church's heart, hidden like a special heritage of God's
revelation. 27

For Christ, and therefore
also for the Church, God willed and predestined the Virgin from
all eternity 9

the Virgin was actively
present in the life of the Church

- at its beginning
(the mystery of the Incarnation), - in its being set up (the
mystery of Cana and of the Cross) and

- in its manifestation
(the mystery of Pentecost) 17

she is an "active
presence" throughout the Church's history,

- being "at the
centre of the pilgrim Church," (Title of part II of the
Encyclical Redemptoris Mater),

- performing a multiple
function: of cooperation in the birth of the faithful in the
life of grace,
of exemplarity in the following of Christ,
of "maternal mediation" (Title of part III of the Encyclical
Redemptoris Mater), 17

Everything about Mary -
privileges, mission, destiny - is also intrinsically referable to
the mystery of the Church. In the measure in which the mystery of
the Church is understood the more distinctly does the mystery of
Mary become apparent. Contemplating Mary, the Church recognizes
its origins, its intimate nature, its mission of grace, its
destiny to glory, and the pilgrimage of faith which it must
follow. (Cf. RM 2). 20

During the Marian Year
all Christians are called to meditate, according to the mind of
the church, upon the presence of the Virgin Mother of God in the
mystery of Christ and of the Church (LG 52-69). The present letter
is meant to be an encouragement to you to meditate upon this
presence in your hearts, in the personal history of your soul and
your vocation, and at the same time in your Religious
Communities, Orders, congregations and Secular Institutes.
36

This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute,
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M. Jean Frisk
, was last modified
Tuesday, 08/24/2010 16:01:37 EDT
by
Ramya Jairam
. Please send any comments to jroten1@udayton.edu.